Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Police force lathi-charged protesting guest teachers in state capital Bhopal on Wednesday night. The guest faculty, from across the state, gathered at city's Ambedkar Maidan and sat on an indefinite strike to press their demand for job regularisation.
The visuals surfaced on Thursday show cops beating the teachers with sticks late night at a spot where there were no street lights. It is alleged that teachers were beaten in the dark to avoid identification.
TT Nagar police has also registered an FIR against the leaders of protestors under section 223 of the BNS Act. The leaders against whom FIRs have been registered are KC Pawar (president of the Guest Teachers Association), BM Khan, Mukesh Joshi, Santosh, and others.
Slogans raised against Education Minister Rao Uday Pratap Singh’s controversial statement
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Videos of the incident shows police using force on the protestors and dispersing them from their protesting site. The teachers' cries in the dark can be heard clearly. After the police action, the protesting teachers left the park.
Earlier, guest teachers had been sitting on an indefinite protest at Ambedkar Maidan in Bhopal, marking Gandhi Jayanti. They raised slogans, one of which was interpreted as a response to the state’s Education Minister Rao Uday Pratap Singh, who had questioned if the guest teachers were planning to take over the system like guests taking over a house.
What do the police say?
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Chandrashekhar Pandey, an FIR was filed against the protestors because they were demonstrating without permission. Regarding the banner warning of gunfire, the ACP clarified that it didn’t imply immediate firing, and the banner was removed after it caused controversy. He added that the issue was being unnecessarily exaggerated.
During the day, the police had labelled the protest as "illegal" with a banner warning them to disperse or face firing. This banner was later removed after public outrage.
Teachers reported that the police turned off lights near the protest site before charging at them with batons. At the time, the teachers were reading the religious text, Sunderkand, when the police attacked. The guest teachers scattered in different directions as police chased them.
